Reply #58: ...

[AnotherGreenWorld]

1) If you are hospitalized, you do not choose your doctors.

2) Doctors have a certain authority. When I was in the hospital my family members assumed my doctors knew what they were talking about, had my best interest in mind, and so on.

There's not much you can do about bad doctors, and, yes, they are fairly common. You just don't notice them until something serious happens. Yes, most doctors can handle patients who come in with a cold. (Well, actually, the typical result--an anti-biotic--probably isn't that wise of a choice. But at least they don't greatly harm the patient.) But that's the sort of thing you could wait out, or if you don't know that drinking lots of fluid helps, ask your garbage man. He'll give you the same advice as your doctor would, and he won't charge you.

It's really too bad we don't have higher standards in this country. I think it would be not just more helpful but more politically expedient if Edwards--especially considering his background--would spend more time talking about doing something about medical malpractice than talking about things of this sort that, if he were the nominee, would assure his defeat in the general election.